What Might Get Obama's Attention to the War on Terror?

Inspired by Greg Gutfeld of The Five.

The Real Bogus Analysis on Iraq

What Obama leaves behind typically is found in stables.

From the incomparable Michael Ramirez

Maybe Where They Got the Idea?

Mission Accomplished in Iraq!

Have you heard President Obama on his (premature?) withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq?

“THE LONG WAR in Iraq will come to an end by the end of this year.”

Will come to an end, Mr. President?? So, if you were to withdraw all the U.S. troops from Germany by the end of the year, would you say that World War II will come to an end this year, too? Would you like to take credit for that, too?

Just checking.

Cross posted at LCR.

Things That Make You Go, "Hmmm!"

Just briefly, because I really want to understand these things, but a lot is being made of the fact that the terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki was born in the US.

And Ron Paul has assured us that terrorism is caused because of our presence in their country... so if Anwar al-Awlaki was born in the US, does this mean we have to leave the US?

And if so, where do we go? Hmmmm. That would make for an interesting campaign slogan:

Get the US out of the US!

Images of 9/11

News Footage of 9/11 As it Happened -video

American Boots Hit the Ground in Somalia After Drone Attacks

Somalia is now the sixth country over which the United States is flying attack drones. Last month, the same Special Operations Command unit currently operating in Yemen carried out an attack on two leaders of the Somali militant group al-Shabab in a June 23 mission. The Washington Post reported the attack on Wednesday, and on Friday, Somalia's defense minister says that American military forces touched down to collect the bodies of the insurgents. Al-Shabab has carried out attacks on the Somali government, and while the government is calling on more American drone missions, they say they were not aware of the first drone attack. "But we are not complaining about that. Absolutely not. We welcome it," Defense Minister Mohamoud Haji Faqi told the Associated Press. "We understand the U.S.'s need to quickly act on its intelligence on the ground."

Six countries? I'm thinking if the "Peace Prize" president can have "kinetic military actions" in six countries, just think how much Bush could have accomplished, if they'd only given him the "Peace Prize"?

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Obama's "Poker Face"

Michael Ramirez hitting the nail squarely on the head, as usual.

H/T Gina Cobb

Obama Announces Troop Drawdown in Afghanistan

I just listened to Obama's announcement for a troop drawdown in Afghanistan. Someone had suggested a drinking game...take a shot whenever Obama mentioned bin Laden. (Six times by my count). You folks please wait an hour before driving.

His pronunciation of Taliban as "Tollyban" was as bit jarring. I wanted to take a shot every time I heard that. (Lost count.)

Obama's choosing a rapid drawdown, as opposed to what his generals recommend, suggests political rather than strategic or security considerations.

NYT:

General Petraeus, who helped write the Army’s field manual on counterinsurgency policy, did not endorse the decision, said another official, though both Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton both accepted it, albeit with reservations. General Petraeus had recommended limiting withdrawals to 5,000 troops this year and another 5,000 over the winter, deferring the drawdown of the rest of the surge force through next year’s fighting season.

He and other military commanders argued that the 18 months since Mr. Obama announced the troop increase did not allow for enough time for the Americans to consolidate the fragile gains that they had made in Helmand and other provinces. Troops have succeeded in clearing many towns and cities of insurgents, and then keeping them safe so that markets reopened and girls were able to go to school, for example.

His goal "America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home" sounds like more of the typical Democrat mantra of domestic spending over defense. Obama was definitely looking to the 2012 elections in this speech.

A full transcript of his remarks can be found here.

More at Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Obama took SIXTEEN HOURS to Make up his Mind about Bin Laden Mission

"Obama took SIXTEEN HOURS to make up his mind about Bin Laden mission"

Monday morning, I had a quote queued up by Jay Leno:

"Donald Trump says he’s President Obama’s worst nightmare. That’s not true. Having to make a decision is Obama’s worst nightmare.”

And I felt a little bad about that, seeing as how he must have made a decision over the take down of bin Laden, right? That quote seems almost prescient, according to the Daily Mail:

Barack Obama kept military commanders hanging by declaring he would 'sleep on it' before taking 16 hours to give the go-ahead to raid Bin Laden's compound.

Hit squads of specialist Navy Seals - who were not even told who they were preparing to capture - had practised the mission at two reconstructions of the terror chiefs sprawling compound.

The mission looked set to be given the all clear last Thursday when analysts confirmed beyond doubt that Bin Laden was in busy town of Abbottabad in northern Pakistan.

"Mr. President, we need a decision."

"Lemme think about it and get back to you!"

But the president stunned officials when he told a national security meeting that he wanted more time to think - and disappeared out of the room.

'I'm not going to tell you what my decision is now - I'm going to go back and think about it some more,' said Obama, according to the New York Times. He then added 'I'm going to make a decision soon.'

The head of the CIA and other senior intelligence officers who were keen to proceed were left tense as they waited for the president's decision.

But the next morning after 16 hours, Obama summoned four top aides to the White House Diplomatic Room. Before they could speak, the president put his fist on the table and declared 'It's a go'.

Catch that decisiveness? Sixteen hours after he was asked, and with special forces poised to go, he finally is able to pound his fist on his desk, as if he'd just made a leadership decision, rather than what was in all likelihood a consensus of his real advisers!

Whether it was Michelle, or Jeremiah Wright, or Bill Ayers or whom,ever else he trusts, when he left that room to "sleep on it", he demonstrated a variation of "When the going gets tough, the President gets going!" I think Barry wanted to get a consensus of how this would affect him personally and politically.

And did you hear the self serving bit of claptrap from one of Obama's staff? John Brennan, Obama's counter-terrorism adviser:

"We were able to monitor [the operation] in a real-time basis. It was probably one of the most anxiety-filled times in the lives of the people gathered [in the White House] yesterday. The minutes seemed like days."

Poor babies! While men of honor put their lives on the line, a handful of policy wonks sat in cushy chairs in the White House and probably had to subsist on only the White House mess for coffee instead of Starbucks. Such privation! And "the minutes seemed like days."

Now, I want you to compare the remarks of John Brennan to the experience of the men trained, staged and ready to go into battle:

"The minutes seemed like days" to wonks in their comfy chairs. What do you think the minutes felt like for SIXTEEN HOURS while the fighting men who were ready to go at a moments notice, were faced with the reality that the worse thing they were going to encounter was not a traffic jam on the beltway home, but maybe a longer trip in a flag draped coffin?

Funny how Obama never mentioned the sixteen hours it took for him to make a decision, in his "Look at Me, Ain't I wonderful, I got Obama" speech?

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Update on "A Tale of Two Buses": Student Dies from Injuries

An update to our story of ten days ago.

Daniel Viflic, 16, was critically injured when the school bus he was riding on was directly hit by an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza Strip.

The 16-year-old boy who was injured in the anti-tank missile attack on a school bus in the Negev by Hamas terrorists 10 days ago, died on Sunday after a steady decline to critical condition.

Viflic suffered severe head trauma and was artificially respirated at the scene after the bus sustained a direct hit by a missile. He was rushed to Soroka University Medical Center Hospital in Beersheba, where his family has been holding vigil for the past ten days. On April 12, the severity of his condition was upgraded to extremely critical and doctors expressed concern that he had suffered irreparable brain damage.

The anti-tank missile hit the bus moments after most of the children got off, while it was traveling near Kibbutz Sa’ad, about 2.5 km. from the Gaza Strip. Just two people were on onboard when it was hit – the driver, who was lightly injured, and the boy, who was en route to visit his grandmother.

Our prayers are with Daniel's family.

H/T The Jawa Report

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Who Is the Libyan Jefferson Davis?

As bad as Mubarak and Qaddafi have been, one of the things that have bothered me about this administration's rush to remove Egyptian and Libyan dictators, is the uncertainty of who or what would be replacing them. I believe that part of the reticence to take out Saddam during the first Gulf War, was not knowing who would fill the vacuum of his passing. Better the devil you know...

And now, it appears that some of the "rebels" in Libya have Al-Qaeda connections. What's to prevent a radical Muslim takeover or either Egypt or Libya (or both)? The terrorist group Hamas was "democratically" elected to govern the Gaza strip. Merely holding an election is not enough to institute the democratic reforms needed to sustain a Jeffersonian democracy (or a democratic republic, if you will.)

What if a coalition of the great nations had intervened on behalf of our rebels a hundred and fifty years ago? Since there is a possibility of us backing the "wrong rebels", I offer the following:

Dateline Paris, 1862:

Tonight, I’d like to update the French people on the international effort that we have led in the United States –- what we’ve done, what we plan to do, and why this matters to us.

I want to begin by paying tribute to our men and women in uniform who, once again, have acted with courage, professionalism and patriotism. They have moved with incredible speed and strength. Because of them and our dedicated diplomats, a coalition has been forged and countless lives have been saved.

Meanwhile, as we speak, our troops are also fighting in Mexico. For generations, France has played a unique role as an anchor of global security and as an advocate for human freedom. Mindful of the risks and costs of military action, we are naturally reluctant to use force to solve the world’s many challenges. But when our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act. That’s what happened in the United States over the course of these last six weeks.

The American people are been ruled by Abraham Lincoln, who has denied his people freedom and exploited their wealth. He began attacking and killing his own people. I made it clear that Lincoln had lost the confidence of his people and the legitimacy to lead, and I said that he needed to step down from power.

Confronted by this brutal repression and a looming humanitarian crisis, I ordered warships into American waters. European allies, Britain and Spain declared their willingness to commit resources to stop the killing. We have instituted a blockade...a "no float zone" if you will, outside northern American ports.

We struck regime forces approaching Atlanta to save that city and the people within it. We targeted military assets that had been choking off towns and cities, and we cut off much of their source of supply.

It’s true that France cannot use our military wherever repression occurs. And given the costs and risks of intervention, we must always measure our interests against the need for action. But that cannot be an argument for never acting on behalf of what’s right. In this particular country -– the United States — at this particular moment, we were faced with the prospect of violence on a horrific scale. More Americans have died during this conflict than at any other time in their history.

I believe that this movement of change cannot be turned back, and that we must stand alongside those who believe in the same core principles that have guided us through many storms: our opposition to violence directed at one’s own people; our support for a set of universal rights, including the freedom for people to express themselves and choose their leaders; our support for governments that are ultimately responsive to the aspirations of the people.

For these reasons and more, we support Jefferson Davis and those "rebels" and their adherence to the right of self determination.

Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the newly formed Confederate States of America.

Oops.



Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Man Fired for Putting Wife on Terror Watch List

Dear Abby: My husband put me on a terrorist watch list and kept me out of the country for three years. Should I apologize for not being home on time to make his supper? Signed - Perplexed in Pakistan

An immigration officer tried to rid himself of his wife by adding her name to a list of terrorist suspects. He used his access to security databases to include his wife on a watch list of people banned from boarding flights into Britain because their presence in the country is 'not conducive to the public good'.

As a result the woman was unable for three years to return from Pakistan after traveling to the county to visit family. The tampering went undetected until the immigration officer was selected for promotion and his wife's name was found on the suspects' list during a vetting inquiry. The Home Office confirmed today that the officer has been sacked for gross misconduct.

Some say keep the government out of the bedroom? This was the government keeping her out of the bedroom!

H/T Mrs. Crankipants, who suggests that there's either a divorce or some red hot make-up sex in her future. But, what about his needs, Mrs. C???

Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in AZ Desert

I know a lot of focus is on Egypt these days, but this story has definitely been under-reported.


From those wonderful people who think this is a good idea...

Jan 27: A book celebrating suicide bombers has been found in the Arizona desert just north of the U.S.- Mexican border, authorities tell Fox News.

The book, "In Memory of Our Martyrs," was spotted Tuesday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent out of the Casa Grande substation who was patrolling a route known for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs.

Published in Iran, it consists of short biographies of Islamic suicide bombers and other Islamic militants who died carrying out attacks.

According to internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents, "The book also includes letters from suicide attackers to their families, as well as some of their last wills and testaments." Each biographical page contains "the terrorist's name, date of death, and how they died."

Agents also say that the book appears to have been exposed to weather in the desert "for at least several days or weeks."

Hmm. I wonder which of the good people of Mexico simply yearning for more economic freedom in the states, looking to do the jobs Americans won't do, and looking for a better life may have dropped that one?

"At this time, DHS does not have any credible information on terrorist groups operating along the Southwest border," a Department of Homeland Security official said in a statement. "We work closely with our partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities and as a matter of due diligence and law enforcement best practice, report anything found, no matter how significant or insignificant it may seem."

I think the operative words here are "does not have information" and "credible".

Statements from U.S. officials, including FBI director Robert Mueller, have raised serious concerns in recent years over "OTMs" -- or illegal immigrants other than Mexicans -- who have crossed the southwest border at alarming rates.

Mueller testified before the House Appropriations Committee in March 2005 that "there are individuals from countries with known Al Qaeda connections who are changing their Islamic surnames to Hispanic-sounding names and obtaining false Hispanic identities, learning to speak Spanish and pretending to be Hispanic."

Just last year, the Department of Homeland Security had in custody thousands of detainees from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. U.S. Border Patrol statistics indicate that there were 108,025 OTMs detained in 2006, compared to 165,178 in 2005 and 44,614 in 2004.

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

More here: Fox News.com

TSA Reaches Out to End Private Screening Program

You know... the one they were "neutral" about? The alternative to the pat downs that Obama joked about in his STFU WTF SOTU?

Washington (CNN) -- A program that allows airports to replace government screeners with private screeners is being brought to a standstill, just a month after the Transportation Security Administration said it was "neutral" on the program.

TSA chief John Pistole said Friday he has decided not to expand the program beyond the current 16 airports, saying he does not see any advantage to it.

Though little known, the Screening Partnership Program allowed airports to replace government screeners with private contractors who wear TSA-like uniforms, meet TSA standards and work under TSA oversight. Among the airports that have "opted out" of government screening are San Francisco and Kansas City.

Isn't that just like the Obamanites? Hold out some small hope of relief from the bureaucratic excesses of the TSA only to snatch it away again.

And if you think the TSA wouldn't be in charge of security for high speed rail as Obama implied, then I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

H/T Memeorandum

Snakes on a Plane II: The Bagel Connection

You've seen "Snakes on a Plane"? The Sequel, "Bagels on a Plane" is coming soon to a theater near you!

Passengers claimed man had suspicious package in the overhead compartment. A Florida professor was arrested and removed from a plane Monday after his fellow passengers alerted crew members they thought he had a suspicious package in the overhead compartment.

That "suspicious package" turned out to be keys, a bagel with cream cheese and a hat.

Ognjen Milatovic, 35, was flying from Boston to Washington D.C. on US Airways when he was escorted off the plane for disorderly conduct following the incident.

"Can't I just finish my waffles?" came the man's plaintive cry! No, wait! That was that other guy!

Passengers reported hearing strange noises coming from a plastic bag. State police said later that the bag contained a set of keys, a bagel with cream cheese, some other small food items, a hat and a wallet.

When confronted by the US Airways crew about his "suspicious package," Milatovic got on his cell phone. The crew asked him to hang it up and sit down. When he refused, he was cuffed.

Milatovic was also charged with interfering with the operation of an aircraft.

He probably just forgot to turn off his cell phone and tried to answer it. He should have complied with the crew, though, when asked to turn it off. For this, he probably gets what he deserved.

Too bad he wasn't flying out of LOX! (Little LAX humor for you on the Left Coast!)

H/T Memeorandum
Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

"The New Humane: Killing Terrorists instead of Capturing Them

Ed Morrissey:

Over the years, I have warned that the attempts to shoehorn wartime operations against terrorists through criminal courts would produce distorted decisions on fighting, especially on the desirability of capturing terrorists. By treating terrorists captured abroad (as opposed to arrested in the US) the same as criminals arrested in the US, the government and the courts turn military and intelligence personnel into cops, and in doing so put at risk both the personnel and the tactics used to find, capture, and interrogate terrorists. It sets all of the incentives towards killing terrorists rather than capturing them, which not only results in higher collateral casualties but also denies the US critical intelligence on other terrorists.

I must admit that there is at least a bit of a disconnect that says sending someone to Gitmo with three hots and a cot, plus the religious text of your choice, plus medical care is far worse than sending a Predator missile through his kitchen window. Yet, the Obama administration that campaigned on closing Gitmo down, has little to no compulsion against firing missiles at suspected terrorists, even with the collateral damage that must needs accompany it.

But then, no one ever accused the Obama administration of being consistent...

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR.

Woman in Wheelchair Gawked at in Bra and Panties Waiting to go Through Airport Security

I certainly feel a lot safer now, don't you???


H/T Pirates Cove

Two Things Made Flying Safer - The Rest is Security Theater

In "A Waste of Money and Time", security technologist Bruce Schneier speaks plainly about the problem with airline security. They say that generals are often guilty of preparing to fight the last war. Airport security seems to follow that same pattern:

A short history of airport security: We screen for guns and bombs, so the terrorists use box cutters. We confiscate box cutters and corkscrews, so they put explosives in their sneakers. We screen footwear, so they try to use liquids. We confiscate liquids, so they put PETN bombs in their underwear. We roll out full-body scanners, even though they wouldn’t have caught the Underwear Bomber, so they put a bomb in a printer cartridge. We ban printer cartridges over 16 ounces — the level of magical thinking here is amazing — and they’re going to do something else.

Otherwise known as reactive measures. What are needed are proactive measures, which need to be directed at the bombers and not the bombs.

...Our security measures only work if we happen to guess the plot correctly. If we get it wrong, we’ve wasted our money. This isn’t security; it’s security theater.

Security theater. Playing a part to make people feel safer about flying, when in fact, very little of the efforts actually make anyone safer.

...Exactly two things have made airplane travel safer since 9/11: reinforcing the cockpit door, and convincing passengers they need to fight back. Everything else has been a waste of money. Add screening of checked bags and airport workers and we’re done. Take all the rest of the money and spend it on investigation and intelligence.

Read the whole thing. Think about what tremendous amounts of money we waste for minimal gains. Then, think of the erosion of rights and dignity it costs us in addition to our treasure. Then consider letting your elected officials know what you really think.

H/T Say Anything